Quote:
Originally Posted by Media Boy
I was just look up VIVA on the Freeview TV Set to see what Spike TV was going to broadcast.
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Indeed. Spike's schedule is listed on Digiguide, it looks pretty much like a 5* clone with a few extra programmes and minus the Australian soaps. 5*, going forward, keeps the Australian soaps and gains new material from Viacom, such as Catfish.
The Freeview EPG is notoriously unreliable when slots change hands. Although the 2 hour slot you have noticed could be an indication of Viva being used for an EPG squatting exercise on Freeview. Viacom/Channel 5 certainly have enough spare capacity (teleshopping) to take a couple of hours out of one of their other channels on Freeview to create a new slot.
Viva's schedules, going forward, show it reverting to a basic music video channel and losing the "entertainment" shows. Music video channels don't bring in enough revenue to fund carriage on the national Freeview multiplexes, so it is unlikely that Viva would be used for anything other than an EPG "placeholder" on Freeview.